Scripted by Shawn Slovo, daughter of two leading ANC members, this is a gripping, persuasive portrait of apartheid South Africa. Based on a true story, it stars Derek Luke as a young Mozambican who is radicalised after brutal treatment at the hands of a security officer (Tim Robbins): like the country, Patrick treads an uncertain path towards truth and reconciliation.

Hot stuff on the Cote d'Azur: Gilbert Melki's Marc takes his family to the seaside haunt of his childhood, hoping that the local oysters will revive matrimonial relations with Beatrix (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi); his teenage son meanwhile takes along his gay pal, and before you can say huitre they are up to their necks in lovers old and new; a bright, breezy, silly French farce.

Being John Malkovich 12.55am, Film4 (Spike Jonze, 1999)

Out-of-work puppeteer John Cusack takes a clerical job in a weird Manhattan office block, where he discovers a portal that leads into the head of John Malkovich, the movie star (gamely playing himself), before dumping him in a ditch beside the New Jersey turnpike. "Surreal" doesn't do justice to Jonze's subversive comedy; scripted by the brilliant Charlie Kaufman, it's a true original.